Tracy Olander, who is a former International Baccalaureate School Coordinator and Academic Dean for Spring Valley Academy, has taken on the role of TPHS assistant principal since June, joining assistant principals Michael Santos and Robert Shockney.
Olander’s previous experience in education includes working at the Spring Valley Academy and as a part-time human resources coordinator for the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District. Olander has additional experience in academic counseling and with helping students make important decisions about their classes and extracurriculars.
“I think she&r...

by Farhan HossainSeptember IssueComments Off on FloWater dispensers removed from TPHS

TPHS’ two FloWater water dispensers, located in the B building and donated by the Rob Machado Foundation during the 2015-16 school year, have been removed from campus.
Last year, after plumbing in Flint, Mich. and several schools in the San Ysidro School District were found to have lead water levels above EPA regulation levels, the Falconer tested TPHS’ water for toxins through a free testing kit from The Home Depot. The kit was made by RainSoft, a company that sells water purification systems. The results were published in the Falconer’s May 2017 issue. Although the results found no EPA regulat...

Three cars owned by TPHS students Alexita Velasco (11), Isabella Collins (11) and Grace Kratzer (12) were broken into in the TPHS student parking lot on Sept. 14 between 12:55-1:45 p.m. According to Leighton Balalio, Cathedral Catholic High School’s Director of Campus Security, it was also discovered at around 2:30 p.m. that two vehicles parked on Cathedral Catholic High School’s campus were broken into that day as well.
According to Assistant Principal Tracy Olander, the TPHS administration staff was notified of the break-ins on campus by a TPHS student who noticed an individual walking away fr...

“TPTV,” a weekly show put on by the Advanced TV Production class, is likely to resume in November after the show is “restructured,” according to the new teacher of the class, Derek Brunkhorst.
The new program will be different in content, quality and duration, and will likely go by a different, undetermined name.
“The main restructure is that a lot of the little sketches that were in [previous episodes of TPTV] aren’t going to be on ‘TPTV;’ it’s really going to be more of the happenings that are going on around school,” Brunkhorst said.
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ASB President Sophia LeRose (12) spearheaded an ASB fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey relief on Sept. 8 at the first TPHS home football game against Santa Fe Christian.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 25, after traveling through the Gulf of Mexico. The heavy rain led to flooding throughout Houston and surrounding areas, destroying many homes and businesses.
“I think all of ASB felt kind of hopeless because we couldn’t do anything [to help] … so we just thought we might as well try and do something,” LeRose said.
In the past, ASB ha...

by Bea De OliveiraJune IssueComments Off on ASB hosts annual TP Idol contest for TPHS students

The annual ASB-sponsored TP Idol contest was held in the quad during lunch from May 2-5, and Hannah Uzi (11) won first place on the last day of the competition.
To reach the finals, contestants went through an initial round where they were evaluated by three teacher judges: Jacqueline Niddrie, Lars Trupe and Marinee Payne.
“[The grading criteria] were tone, pitch, style and actual voice,” Niddrie said. “It was a scale of one to five. There were four categories and we just added up points.”
After the first round of competition, the top three singers were chosen to compete in the finals, held on ...

by Angela LiuJune IssueComments Off on TPHS Foundation hosts first Spring Fling community event

Spring Fling, a community-building event, was held by the TPHS Foundation for the first time in the TPHS east quad on June 1, 2017 from 5-8 p.m. in conjunction with Athletics Physicals Night, after the Falconer went to press
According to the TPHS Foundation Executive Director, Nicole Baril, Spring Fling was held as “an opportunity for parents, students and staff to get together as a community.” The event was free, while TPHS athletes could pay $25 at the event to get an annual physical, required for athletic participation.
“[The TPHS Foundation is] trying to encourage parents to come to school, b...

by Ellie AhlesJune IssueComments Off on District drug program educates parents and students

A drug seminar for parents and students sponsored by the SDUHSD Recovery Education Alcohol Drug Instruction, or READI, was held in the TPHS gym on May 3.
Introduced by READI supervisor and District Substance Abuse Counselor Joseph Olesky, the main presentation was given by forensic expert and toxicologist, Sarah Urfer, who is also the lab director of Boulder, Colo. diagnostic laboratory ChemaTox. Urfer, who often testifies in court cases regarding the evidence, processed by the ChemaTox lab, shared many stories about drug use and discussed the dangers of different kinds of common drugs with an emphasis on marijuana, and the tet...